Overview of Georgio di Chiricho for an Art I class about to do a two point perspective lesson.

1. The Father of Surrealism:
Giorgio di Chirico. (1888-1978)

2. Quick Facts
• Born in Greece to Italian Parents.
• De Chirico is best known for the paintings he
produced between 1909 and 1919, his
metaphysical period, which are memorable for the
haunted, brooding moods evoked by their images.
At the start of this period, his subjects were still
cityscapes inspired by the bright daylight of
Mediterranean cities, but gradually he turned his
attention to studies of cluttered storerooms,
sometimes inhabited by mannequin-like hybrid
figures.

3. What is Surrealism?
• A 20th-century literary and artistic
movement that attempts to express the
workings of the subconscious and is
characterized by fantastic imagery and
incongruous juxtaposition of subject
matter.
• CONFUSED? Let’s brake this down…

4. SUBCONSCIOUS
• Definition of SUBCONSCIOUS
• : the mental activities just below the threshold
of consciousness
• Examples of
• A person's behavior can be influenced by urges
that exist only in the “back of one’s mind”.
• One’s dreams are thought to be controlled by
one’s subconscious mind.
• First Known Use of the term:
• 1886

5. INCONGROUS
• Definition: not harmonious : incompatible <
colors>
• In other words, things or ideas that normally
don’t “go” together.

6. JUXTAPOTION
• the act of positioning close together (or side
by side)

7. CHECKING FOR
UNDERSTANDING
• Do you understand all of the critical
vocabulary now?
• Let’s revisit the definition of
SURREALISM and put it in your OWN
WORDS

8. What is Surrealism?
• A 20th-century literary and artistic
movement that attempts to express the
workings of the subconscious and is
characterized by fantastic imagery and
incongruous juxtaposition of subject
matter.
• PUT IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS. GO. 

9. “METAPHYSICAL”
• di Chiricho’s work is often referred to as
“metaphysical”. What does this mean?
• The branch of philosophy that examines the
nature of reality, including the relationship
between mind and matter, reality vs. the “dream
state”, the existance (or not) of God and our
spiritual natures.
• Essential Question: After examining the work of
di Chiricho, how do you think he is exploring
METAPHYSICAL subject matter in his
paintings?

10. SCUOLA METAFISICA
To be come truly immortal
a work of art must escape all human limits:
logic and common sense will only interfere.
But once these barriers are broken
it will enter the regions of childhood and dream.
. . . . What I hear is valueless; only what I see is living,
and when I close my eyes my vision is even more powerful.
The ancient people of Crete painted an enormous eye
in the middle of the narrow bands
that circled their vases, on their household utensils,
and on the walls of their houses.
One must discover the eye in everything.
Chirico, The Seer, 1915.

11. Chirico,
Melancholy and
Mystery
of a Street, 1914.

13. Chirico, The Seer, 1915.